Dragons & Titans: The Rider
by PercyJackson67
Summary: Based on the Facebook game Dragons & Titans. Follows the story of young Leo as he finds his place among the soldiers of good: Hyperion Command. Contains homosexuality between two male characters. Don't like? Don't read.
1. Chapter 1

Dragons & Titans

The Rider

Chapter 1

I don't recall exactly when I decided I wanted to be a Rider, only that I was very young when I did.

I do remember seeing the Riders battling high above the streets of Halvalas, the city I grew up in, warring to decide which Titan, Hyperion or Astaroth, would rule that plane of existence for the next millenium. I don't remember when that was, but I remember it as if it were only yesterday.

I watched as the five Riders on each side of the battle fought and killed each other, using the legendary weapons and the dragons to kill each other and destroy elemental towers as if they were nothing, bringing down shrines and obelisks of the Titans with little to no effort. That battle decided Hyperion's forces as the victor, and we cheered, for Hyperion was a benevolent ruler, unlike the evil Astaroth.

I decided then that I was going to serve Hyperion. I talked the Elder into letting me go to the Dragon Academy, and he solemly agreed. I said goodbye to my family, promising to return to them one day a hero.

Within days, I was at the Academy. Astra, the Titan of Order, was the Headmistress of the Academy, and oversaw the training of the new Riders.

_ "Hello, young Rider." _Astra's voice rang out through the arena on the first day. _"You are about to join the ranks of the Dragon Lords, noble warriors astride mighty dragons, bound to serve either Hyperion or Astaroth in the struggle between good and evil. But, in order to do this, you must learn to control your dragon and wield your weapon of choice. Your training will begin immediately."_

A red dragon swooped down from the sky. I'd seen this type before, I remembered it from the battle at Halvalas. I never learned what it was called, but I was both awed and terrified by it. It had curved horns, like a ram's, one pair of large, muscular legs, large wings, and a third horn sprouting fromits snout. It's tail was flat at the end, with boney protrusions sticking out from the very tip, ending in a fork-like club tail. Its neck, back and tail had numerous spikes lining the spine and sides.

It had a large saddle on its back, and on the rim of the collar was a word in runes: Hellfyr.

_So, this is a Hellfire Dragon, huh?_ I thought, and the dragon stooped down to allow me to climb onto its back. I did so, and it stood back up. Another man walked up, and a large, two-headed dragon with golden armor swooped down from the sky. The man climbed onto its back and kicked its sides. The dragon, with a powerful stroke of its wings, sprang into the air, all but disappearing from sight. I did as I'd seen the other man do, and kicked the Hellfire dragon's sides.

I suppose I did it too hard, because the dragon growled at me, but it still lept into the air after a few strokes of its wings.

"Welcome, young Rider, to Dragon Training! Lucifer is already trained, as are all other dragons here. Lucifer is the Hellfire you've mounted, by the way. All that needs to be done is for _you_ to be trained. You've obviously learned to mount a dragon, and how to command it to fly, but you can't tell it _how_ to fly yet, or how to attack with it, or even to fight whilst on its back. You have much to learn, and so little time to learn it. Both Hyperion's and Astaroth's forces are dwindling, whichever side you're fighting on. This plane of existence is neutral territory, no warring is allowed here, by highest law. Neither Hyperion nor Astaroth may step foot here. Therefore, whether your an Astatite, or a Hyperiite, you're safe here, neither side is allowed to harm you. Which are you, may I ask?"

"Um, Hyperiite? Are those the ones who serve Lord Hyperion?"

"Yes. So, you serve the forces of good? Excellent, so do I. But you could probably tell that by my armor, am I correct?" I nodded. The man was wearing silver armor with a light blue cape and shining blue wings of light, recognizing him as a member of Hyperion's Command.

"Well, let's get started. This is Emperii, my personal Imperial Dragon." The man said, motioning to the dragon he was riding. "So, the basics. Lean forward to go forward, backward to stop, left to go right, and right to go left. Squeeze the dragon with your knees to use their primary attack, and squeeze with your ankles for theirsecondary attack. Remember all of that while training, and it'll become second nature to you. Eventually, when you find the right dragon, you'll be able to merely think what you want him or her to do, and the dragon will do it."

"Cool. So what next?"

"Next, you put it into practice. We won't be doing any attacking today, though. This will just be getting used to flying on dragonback. So, follow me, and try not to fall too far behind. My name is Curst, by the way."

"I'm Lëö."

"Well, Lëö, it's nice to meet you. Now, let's begin."

Curst leaned forward, and he and Emerii flew off quickly. I leaned forward as well, and Lucifer took off after them. I found it hard to breathe in the thin air, and the sheer speed at which we were flying didn't help.

I sat up a bit, trying to get Lucifer to slow down, but I regretted it. By doing that, I increased my surface area, and the wind had more effect on me. It pushed me back in the saddle, towhere I was almost lying down, and Lucifer took that to mean "stop". He halted suddenly, and I almost flew off him with my momentum.

If my inertia hadn't caused me to lean forward suddenly, telling Lucifer to go forward again, I would have fallen to my doom.

By the time Lucifer was back to full speed, I had almost lost sight of Curst. Finally, he hit the obstacle course.

He steered Emperii through twists and turns around large pillars of stone, and obelisks, and shrines to both Astaroth and Hyperion. I did my best to do the same, but I crashed us into obstacles just as often as I avoided them. By the time we got through the course, Lucifer was so angry. We landed on a cliff with Curst and Emperii.

Lucifer bucked me off, and I hit the ground, hard. Lucifer snorted and flew off. Curst laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked angrily.

"Oh, nothing." He laughed again, wiping tears from his eyes. "But Lucifer is very ornery. He doesn't really like anyone riding him. He'll follow orders, but he doesn't like it. I knew you'd mess up. I'd have been surprised if you didn't. I remember my first flight on a dragon. I wasn't half as lucky as you were. I think you've got a natural gift for this."

"Really?"

"Yes. I bet you'll do better next time."

"I hope so. I can't afford to scare another dragon off."

"Sure you can. We'll just try you out with another dragon, see how you do with him. We'll try another Hellfire first. But rest up for now. We'll try again tomorrow." I nodded and started to walk away. "Where are you going? Get on." He patted the saddle in front of himself and Emperii bent down for me to get on. I struggled to climb aboard, but finally settled in comfortably.

Curst and Emperii flew slower than we had before, so it took longer, but it was a far more comfortable flight than before.

Finally, we landed on the ground again by the Academy.

"Come back here tomorrow for another try. While in the Academy, you can ride any dragon you want to, but once you graduate and join the forces of good, you can only fly whatever dragons you can afford to take care of. You not only need to be able to buy the egg and hatch the dragon, you also need to pay for food for it. The Academy pays for caretaking of the dragons here, but you'll be responsible for your personal dragons once you leave here."

"I understand."

"Good. Now go rest." I nodded and left, going back inside.

The Academy was so large that I had to use a map to find my way down to the mess hall. The mess hall was larger than the entire city of Halvalas, and it was filled to the brim with other lords. Half the room was painted blue and white, with Hyperion's banner hanging on the walls, about five feet between each one. The other side of the room was red and black, with Astaroth's banners hanging the same way. There were statues of Astaroth and Hyperion at the very back of the room. Five other statues were placed around the room as well, representing a Hyperion's Command officer, an Astaroth's Guard officer, Astra, Tengu, the Titan of Fortune, and Hephaestus, the Forge Titan.

Hephaestus, Tengu and Astra all entered the room through their statues, conversing with many ofthe students throughout the meal. I stayed in the corner and ate, not making any attempts to socialize. I didn't recognize anyone here, other than Astra, Tengu and Hephaestus, because I'd seen images of them in history books. Curst showed up at some point to eat with the other officers, but he paid me no mind.

Finally, after I was done with my meal, I got out my map again and found my way up to my room. I slept long and hard that night, and I dreamed of a dragon.


	2. Chapter 2

Dragons & Titans

The Rider

Chapter 2

The next day, Curst had me try to fly with a different Hellfire than before. This one was a girl, and she was much calmer than Lucifer had been. She did as I said, and we crashed only half as much as I had before. Still, I didn't quite feel right riding a Hellfire dragon. I felt like I needed to fly a different species. I really wanted to learn about the dragon I'd seen in my dream, but I didn't have time right now to ask about it.

I tilted us to the right and narrowly missed a pillar of stone, then dove straight down to avoid crashing into a long tree branch. I was surprised at the sheer size of the trees on this plane, but figured that it was probably created specifically for training.

I pulled us out of the dive by leaning backwards, and then forward again when the Hellfire dragon swooped upwards to rejoin Curst and Emperii.

"Nice, clean exit. You exited that dive with precision I've only seen in a handful of trainees. But enough praise, let's finish this session, then I'll take you out to eat. We'll be leaving the Academy, I want to take you into town."

"Okay." Curst and Emperii turned and continued along the course. I followed them into a part of the course called the "Boneyard". I found out exactly why it was called that when I entered. It wasn't that the stone spires all around resembled bones, though that definitely contributed, I'm sure.

Instead, it was because the spires were so close together that flying too fast would mean not being able to turn in time to avoid crashing against them, and certain death. Skeletons of dragons lay on the ground a mile below us, and some bones stuck to the sides of the spires.

_The Academy sure takes training seriously. Better be careful in there._ The Hellfire dragon and I flew slower than Curst and Emperii, and got out of the Boneyard with only minor injuries.

"Excellent!" Curst said. "You definitely did much better than last time. Now, Lillith, go on home and lick your wounds." The Hellfire dragon roared, red flames blazing towards the sky, then flew off. I climbed onto Emperii again, and Curst took me back to the Academy.

Emperii dropped us off and flew back to the Dragonhold. Once the dragon had left, Curst lead me down a long system of corridors until we finally ended up at the exit. On each side of the large doors were stables with over a thousand stalls in each, each stall housing a horse, and still some horses having to be tethered to a wooden beam on the outside.

"Come along, Lëö." Curst lead me over to a pair of horses. His was a black stallion with golden plated armor, intricate red details spread out over the golden armor. It seemed that he'd attempted to recreate Emperii in this horse. He mounted the horse and motioned for me to mount a plain brown horse.

I mounted it the way the Elder of Halvalas had taught me, and Curst seemed to approve.

"Someone has taught you well." He said as we rode off.

"The Elder of Halvalas believed that horse riding was an invaluable skill that would solve most any problem."

"Hmm. Well, I suppose he's correct, for the common folk, anyway. I usually prefer riding on dragonback, but dragons aren't allowed to leave the Academy in this dimension, so I have to settle for a horsehere. That's why I try to make it as much like riding Emperii as possible, which is why my horse has on all this armor, even though violence is strictly forbidden on this plane of existence. I'd suggest that you do the same, once you have your preferred dragon. Speaking of which, have you given much thought as to what dragon you'd like to ride?"

"Yes, I have. I've been seeing this specific dragon in my dreams, though I know nothing about it. It's got these golden scales, but I can't describe it any better than that."

"Well, that narrows it down, but there are several dragons with gold scales, and still others who can rarely be born with golden scales. For example, some Direbones are born with golden skin."

"Well, I don't know much about any of the dragons. The only ones I know anything about are Hellfires and Imperials, and that's only because I've ridden them."

"I figured as much. That's why I want to take you somewhere."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going into Averyn. As you probably know, the Academy is just outside of Averyn, only ten minutes' ride away. Inside Averyn is a great library that features an entire section on nothing but dragons and their abilities."

"Cool."

"You might find something on that dragon you've been seeing."

"I hope so. There's just something about that dragon that feels... I don't know... right. It just feels like it's meant for me."  
"It could be that, or it could be a warning to stay away from that type of dragon."

"I don't think so."

"Well, in any case, a vision like that warrants investigation. You should definitely research this dragon."

"I agree." We rode on the rest of the way in silence. It wasn't long before we were in Averyn. We stopped of at a bakery and Curst bought some pastries for us to eat, then we continued on towards the library.

Once we arrived, I was slightly disappointed to see the library. I had been expecting a huge, majestic palace filled to the brim with books. Instead, there was a small shack no larger than the house I'd been living in in Halvalas, anf all-in-all, it had maybe two hundred books.

"Disappointed?" Curst asked.

"A little." I admitted.

"Don't be discouraged. You should have seen it less than a year ago. Less than a year ago, someone burned the library down. Most of the books were destroyed. We only managed to save some of the books. What you see in here is all that's left."

"I thought that violence was against the rules on this plane."

"It is. That's why he was executed. He was turned into stone and placed on the top of the library as a warning to anyone who tries to cause violence."

"I see."

"Well, here is the section on the dragons. Perhaps you'll find something on your golden dragon here."

"I hope so. It's peaked my curiousity immensely." I followed Curst over to a small chamber with walls line with bookcases. There were 34 bookcases total, each of them representing a different dragon.

Curst had me sit down as he went around each bookcase and grabbed one or two books from several of the cases. He brought them over and sat them down in front of me.

"These are all of the dragons that are either naturally gold in colour, or can very rarely hatch with golden scales. I'd suggest you start reading. Start by looking at the pictures, that should at least tell you what type of dragon you're searching for. But eventually, I'd prefer you read up on all of the dragons, whether they're gold or not. A true Dragon Lord knows a bit about all of the dragons, mainly what they can do, and how to fight them." Curst went over and picked out another book from one of the dragon sections. I looked at the gold plate at the top of the case, the one that showed what dragon that section was about. It had the same Sunsparian runes I had seen on Lucifer's saddle engraved upon it, though it was a different word: Empyrial.

I could only read a little of Sunsparian, as the books were in this language, so I had difficulty understanding most of what I read. But, the names of each dragon came easily to me.

I read what I could about each of the dragons.

Goldenclaw, Imperial and Quetzalcoatl were discarded as soon as I saw their pictures. None of them looked anything similar to the dragon in my dreams. I looked at the title of one of the remaining three books: Nytemare.

I began to flip through the pages of the book, looking for a picture of the Nightmare. I was almost to one when I heard a loud crash outside. I slammed the book closed on instinct, cursing myself for it. Curst got up to see what the commotion was. He bolted back into the room five minutes later and hurriedly put back the books I'd finished with, shoving the other three into my bag, shoving my bag into my hands.

"We must hurry out of here."

"Why?"

"Tensions between the Hyperiites and the Astatites have been increasing as of late, and no one knows why. They've even begun rioting here in this dimension. Normally, the Dragon Lords would merely swoop down and put a stop to the fighting, but dragons aren't allowed to leave the Academy in this dimension. So, the Dragon Lords instead bring their weapons in, riding horses, and resolve conflicts that way. Unfortunately, I left my weapon back at the Academy, so we must hurry away for now. I'll return after while with other Dragon Lords and clean up this mess."

We mounted our horses and rode away. Several Astaties tried to attack us, because Curst was wearing his Hyperion Command armour, but we managed to escape unscathed.

After ten minutes, we were back at the Academy. Curst called down Emperii to fly him up to the Dragon Lords chambers in order to set up a party to resolve the riot. I was sent to my room to rest for the next day, but instead, I rode back into town so I could watch the Dragon Lords fight.

Curst arrived back in Averyn only moments after I did. He had a large sword strapped to his back. The other Dragon lords had many assorted weapons.

They all dismounted, and readied their weapons. Some of them had crossbows, or bows and arrows, or even miniature cannons. Some of them stayed mounted and merely pointed long lances at the crowd as a warning, and the rest had different types of blades.

Curst drew his blade, and I actually recognized it. I'd seen a picture of it on a tapestry in Halvalas a long time ago. It had been a gift to an ancestor of the Elder of Halvalas from one of the last survivors of the kingdom of Castegaul. I didn't know the legend behind it, but I did know that the Elder before the Elder I knew had given it to a warrior from Halvalas when he graduated from the Dragon Academy and became a Dragon Lord of Astaroth. That Dragon Lord had gone on to slay hundreds of powerful Hyperiite Dragon Lords before he was finally brought down by the Hyperion Command Legendary Dragon Lord Cürstikoff. The sword's name was Vengeance.

I knew that Dragon Lords were immortal unless they were killed in battle, so I began to wonder if this was actually Cürstikoff, the legendary Dragon Lord who had killed my uncle.

"Avenger." I heard Curst mutter as he swung his sword, and a shockwave emanated from the blade, knocking back numerous residents of Averyn. I could see the drain wielding that blade was putting on him, but he still stood strong, and the Astatites looked warily at him. Even the other Dragon Lords were anxious.

No one else attacked, they were mearly there to warn the Averyans. After the first shockwave, everyone scattered, the riot over.

I looked at my mentor in awe as he returned Vengeance to its baldric, then remounted his horse, and the Dragon Lords sped off. I returned to the Academy as well.

I skipped supper and went straight to bed, though I knew I would catch no sleep that night. Not with the revelations of that day.

**I'd appreciate some reviews for this story, please.**


	3. Chapter 3

Dragons & Titans

The Rider

Chapter 3

I had had all night to process what I'd just learned, and without a wink of slep, I was a zombie the next morning. I decided that I wouldn't get any sleep at all until I learned the truth, so I decided to ask Curst about that.

"Hello, Curst." I said.

"Hello, Lëö. Though, might I ask, we keep our relationship a bit more formal? I mean, I'm your master, your mentor, not your friend. Eventually, when we are on more equal ground, we may become friends, but for now, I would prefer you refer to me as "Master" or "Sir"."

"Of course, Sir Cürstikoff." Curst halted immediately.

"Where did you hear that name?" He asked without turning to face me.

"I'm from Halvalas, remember? Everyone in Halvalas knows the story of Hyperion Command Legendary Dragon Lord Cürstikoff."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am not Cürstikoff."

"Oh? Then what does "Curst" stand for?"

"Curst. That's it. My name is Curst. It's the name given me by my mother at birth, in honor of my father, Cürstikoff. My father is the one you think of. He's the one that took Vengeance from Tygüërro, not I. I inherited this sword from my father."

"So your father is the one who killed my uncle and took his sword?"

"Your uncle?"

"Tygüërro. My father's brother. He was the man who killed a hundred Hyperiites with that sword."

"A hundred? Is that the story? I'm afraid it was more than that."

"How many, then?"

"Nigh on 1,000."

"What?!"

"I can see now why you have improved so quickly, if you belong to Tygüërro's line, though indirectly. The reason he was so good is that he was a natural Dragon Lord. He was born to ride dragons. It's said that the second he laid eyes on a dragon for the first time, he flew higher than any dragon had ever flown before. And that's the exact way my father described him. So, you're Tygüërro's nephew."

"Yes. My father wept for his brother, and swore on my uncle's sword that he'd get his revenge. But then he met my mother and abandoned that oath."

"Hmm. Well, enough about that. I imagine you're still sore from the past two days?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, then we won't ride today. Instead, today we'll work on another of the essential skills a Dragon Lord must possess: combat. Even with your dragon, you'll be nothing if you can't wield a weapon." Curst tossed me a wooden training sword, and brought out another for himself. "I want you to do whatever feels natural. I'm trying to figure out what kind of weapon you should wield." He came at me with his sword. He brought it down quickly, though he was obviously holding back. He moved slowly enough that I could react naturally, without being rushed.

He brought his sword down on top of me, and I lifted mine to block him. I stepped back with my right foot and pushed upwards on my blade, seemingly knocking him off balance, but he flipped himself backwards and righted himself, then thrust his blade forwards at my chest.

My sword moved to the left and cut off his attack, then I spun inwards to bring my blade to his head, instead only meeting air as he ducked away and swung his sword in an arc for my left ribs.

I altered my swing and parried his attack, sticking my sword in the ground as I pushed off of it, jumping into the air with my hands still on the hilt, and kicked outwards at him. My feet connected with his blade and knocked it across the grass. I stuck the landing and drew my blade from the ground, then thrust it at his face, and he caught the point between his hands, holding me there.

My eyes went as wide as his in surprise at how well I'd reacted, though I'd never wielded a sword in my life.

"Well, I may not be used to that light of a blade anymore. I'm used to something a lot heavier, such as Vengeance, but still... You were exceptional with that wooden blade. I think a sword is right for you, but I also think you should use a shield. You seem to rely equally on both attacking and blocking, so you should use equipment that allow you to take advantage of that by doing both at the same time. A sword and a shiled would allow you to do just that. I don't know much about shields, I use only swords, but I can train you to use swords. I think that from now on, we should train with real swords, but ones with no edge to the blade, so we're not in danger of decapitating each other. Let's call it an early day for today, and I'll spend the rest of the day trying to find someone who can train you to fight with a shield. Go socialize if you wish, or start studying."

"Yes sir." I agreed, and Emperii swooped down to pick him up and carry him off. I looked over at the dragonhold entrance, and, on a whim, went inside.

2,589. That's how many stairs I had to climb before I finally reached the lowest to the ground holding cell. I was in a gigantic room, another set of stairs on the other side. I looked around at the dragons that were in the cells. All of them were Hellfires. Some were red, like Lucifer and Lillith, and others were different colors. Some of them were black, the words "Midnyte Hellfyr" carved into the rock above their cells. Some of them were green with yellow spirals on their wings, "Jade Hellfyr" carved above their cells, and three of them total were gray, eerie green skeleton tattoos covering their bodies. "Lunsford Hellfyr" was carved above their holds.

I started for the stairs, hoping to eventually find the dragon in my dreams, but a force shield blocked the stairs from me, so I was limited to this level. Discouraged, I started to leave, but when I turned, another student had just entered the hold.

"Hello." I said nervously. I wasn't sure I was allowed to be up here.

"Hello." The other kid replied. "Are you here to borrow a dragon?"

"What?"

"Well, somekids who are actually devoted to their training like to come up here and borrow one of the Hellfire dragons to train with. It's not against the rules, in fact, it's encouraged. The mentors and Titans love it when we take the initiative like that. That's what I'm here for. I like to rid the Jade Hellfires, they're my favorite. We're only allowed to borrow the Hellfires, though. Students are only allowed to fly Hellfires unless they have their mentor present and it's for a training session."

"I see. So I can just walk up to any of these dragons and ride it?"

"That's pretty much how it works. You just step into the cage, get it to kneel down, and mount it. Then you walk the dragon over to the window and jump out. The dragon won't let you die during that, it knows how to land from the window. But after that, it's all up to you."

"Cool."

"Yeah. Hey, you want to go fly together? I can ride Jadyn. She's the one I usually use in training. You pick out another Hellfire, and we'll go out. I'm Jaxx, by the way."

"Lëö." I offered my name.

"'Laey-yoh." He tried to pronounce it. "That's hard to say. I'm just going to call you Leo."

"Okay." I walked up to Lillith and stepped inside. She automatically knelt down and let me mount her, then we jumped out the window to find Jaxx and Jadyn were already on the ground.

"You chose Lillith, huh? That's ironic. Jaxx and Lillith are super competitive with each other."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They're always competing for Lucifer's attention, trying to attract him as a mate."

"Cool." With that, Jaxx and I both kicked our dragons into the air, and we took off. We flew slowly at first, looking for a good place to train, and we talked the whole time.

I found out that Jaxx had been coming here for three years already, making him three years my superior. He said that he was actually training with a lance as his weapon, and wanting to ride a Nightmare.

"But not just any Nightmare. I want to ride a Sandman's Nightmare."

"Sandman's Nighmare?"

"Yeah. There was this Dragon Lord several hundred years ago who everyone called the "Sandman" because he always knocked his enemies out. He never killed them, just knocked tham out with one punch. Well, then he retired and became a Dragon Breeder. He bred a Nightmare with a Lucid Nightmare one time, and the result was a new kind of Nightmare that everyone called the Sandman's Nightmare. Its presence, instead of causing bad dreams in anyone close to it, created good dreams. Instead of being surrounded in a cloud of black smoke, like normal and Lucid Nightmares, its wings give off some magical sand that chases away bad dreams. I was affected by a Sandman's Nightmare once, and the dreamit created inspired me to become a Dragon Lord. Ever since then, I've wanted to ride a Sandman's Nightmare."

"Cool."

"You say that a lot. So,you got a dragon in mind that you want to ride?"

"Yes, but I don't know what it's called. I saw it in a dream a few nights ago, so I'd know what it looks like if I saw it, but I can't find it anywhere. I've tried looking in the library at Averyn, but we had to leave before I found it in any of the books." I had forgotten about the three that were now in my room.

"Oh. Bad luck. Well, you'll find it eventually. In the meantime, we'll both have to settle for riding Hellfires. No offense, guys." He said to the dragons, then he got an idea, and suddenly dove for the Boneyard. "I bet you I can beat you out of this!" He said as he started bobbing and weaving through the deathtrap.

I grinned at Lillith, and we flew through it, too. I was slower than Jaxx, but we actually managed to make it through with no injuries.

"How?! Seriously, no crashes?!" Jaxx stared at us in disbelief. He had crashed three times before making it out.

"Nope. Not a scratch on us. At least not from today. The only ones we've got are from yesterday, and I've got a few from the day before that."

"How did a first-year like you get out of the Boneyard unscathed?"

"Just lucky, I guess." We laughed, then flew back to the dragonhold and left the dragons there as we went downstairs to eat.

After supper, I left Jaxx in the mess hall, and went upstairs to my room. Luckily, my room was on the second floor, because I was exhausted. I remembered the books from the library and started to flip through one of them. I saw an image of the Nightmares, all three forms of it, and ruled it out as the dragon in my dreams before I put the book away and fell asleep.

** I'd still like some reviews. So far, I have "0" reviews for this story.**


	4. Chapter 4

Dragons & Titans

The Rider

Chapter 4

The next day, Curst didn't show up for our training session. I asked around about him, but no one had seen anything, so I decided to wait for him. When he never showed up, I decided to train some more in his absense. Jaxx's mentor never showed up for training, either, so we grabbed some wooden weapons and started sparring with them.

He had a wooden lance, holding the handhold with one hand, and a small buckler in the other. He seemed off balance, but it didn't seem to bother him much.

I had the same wooden sword as yesterday, holding a wooden shield at least one-and-a-half times the size of Jaxx's buckler.

He thrust his spear forward and the tip caught on my shield as I jumped back out of the way, then brought my sword up to cut at his lance. The lance was strong, so it held up against my slash, but it dislodged it from my shield.

He jumped forward and slammed his shield into me, knocking me to the ground. His arm shot out and nearly impaled me with his spear, but I brought my shield around and knocked it out of the way as I rolled backward and landed on my feet. I stabbed my sword at him, breaking my sword on his buckler, which splintered into his arm.

The breaking of my sword caused the hilt to splinter as well, slivers of wood tearing my palm up. I dropped what remained of my sword and my shield, and Jaxx did the same. We ran inside to the infirmary, like we'd both been told during orientation.

_"If you ever injure yourself during training, even if it's just a splinter, report immediately to the infirmiry, for it might be worse than you think."_

The nurse looked at us and used some tweezers to pick the splinters out. After an hour of having wood picked out of us, the nurse cast a healing spell to fix our wounds and smiled as she let us go.

We returned immediately to the training field. Apparently, a lot of other students had been told to call it an early day, because they were all there, either socializing and not doing much of anything, or training like there was no tomorrow. I noticed that the Astatites and Hyperiites separated themselves from each other. It then occured to me that I didn't know which Jaxx was.

"Hyperiite." He said, as if he'd read my mind. "And yes, I can read minds. It's just always been something I could do. I have to concentrate to do it,though, so it's not very effective during combat."

"Have you done any aerial combat yet?" I asked.

"Yes. That's something that you usually have to wait until your third year to learn, but this year, second-years have been learning it. I think it's getting worse between Hyperion and Astaroth. I think the war front is getting worse and worse. If you ask me, that's where everyone's mentors are going. I think the Titans are calling them to the battlefield to fight each other off."

Just then, someone ran out into the field, panting.

"NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES! ASTAROTH HAS CAPTURED THE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SIXTH PLANE!" The Astatites cheered for their Titan Lord while the Hyperiites, Jaxx included, scowled.

"So?" I asked. "It's just one plane. There are countless others, right?"

"Yeah, but each time one Titan captures another plane of existence, their forces get a bit stronger, harder to beat. As it stands right now, Astaroth rules over 5,987 planes, and Hyperion controls 5,698 planes. That's a 298 plane difference. That means the Astatites are stronger by 298 planes. It's not much, but it builds up over time. It also means that they can get stronger and faster by training quicker than we can. Wait, you are a Hyperiite, right?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Wait, aren't there, like, 15,000 planes of existence?"

"Actually, there are 15,499 planes of existence. Not counting this one, of course."

"Of course. So, why deosn't Hyperion make a move the other 3,500?"

"3,814, actually. And because some of them are uninhabitable. Even Dragon Lords can't go there. Some of them are home to the Titans themselves, and some of them are Neutral territory. And the rest are home to the dragons. Neither Titan can make a move on the Dragon planes, because that's against the covenant. Neither Titan can make a move on any of the other Titan planes because then they'd start another war with that Titan, and they can only handle a war with one Titan at a time. The Neutral planes are forbidden by the covenant as well, including this one."

"The covenant? What's that?"

"Seriously? You don't know what the covenant is?" Jaxx asked a bit too loudly. Everyone in the training area turned to us. Some Hyperiites and Astatites walked up to us.

"Of course, it _would_ be a Hyperiite that didn't know what the covenant is." The lead Astatite sneered, and the rest of them laughed. The Hyperiites just scowled. "You'd better fill this kid in, or he's Titan fodder."

"The covenant..." The lead Hyperiite began, "is the sacred agreement between Hyperion and Astaroth when they began this war, millions of years ago, setting the ground rules for the war. If there weren't any rules, every plane of existence would be torn apart, and there would be nothing left to rule for either Titan. Basically, it says that neither Hyperion or Astaroth may take part in the battle itself until the battle is decided, and they can take the throne of the plane they just won. Once one side wins or the other, their respective Titan awakens and casts the essence of the other out for the next millenium, and they can do whatever they want with that plane until then.

"Neither Titan is able to attack in a Neutral plane. A Neutral plane is decided when there are a relatively equal amount of supporters of both Titans in that plane. If there are too many more Hyperiites than Astatites, or the other way around, then the plane is no longer Neutral, and the Titans can fight over it. Neither Titan can attack a plane that belongs to another Titan, because that would bring a third Titan into the war, and then chaos would ensue. Neither Titan can attack a dragon plane, because the dragons are Neutral territory permanently. Both sides need the dragons to dotheir bidding. Neither Titan can attack a plane for at least 1,000 years after they lose a battle there.

"If the covenant is broken, then the other Titans can attack them, and reality would be destroyed for everyone, including the Titans."

"Wow. So that's the covenant." I said. "Pretty straightforward. I guess even Titans need laws."

"Yup." Jaxx agreed.

"There, now you're not _completely _useless and stupid." The Astatite said with a smirk. The Hyperiite tackled him, and the two began fighting. Everyone gathered around in a large circle chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Suddenly, a large gray man with red eyes and four arms appeared in the training area, picking up both the Hyperiite and the Astatite.

"YOU KNOW THE RULES! NO FIGHTING, OTHER THAN OFFICIAL SPARRING SESSIONS, TOURNAMENTS, AND/OR TRAINING! YOU BROKE THE RULES, AND ARE HEREBY REDUCED IN RANK BY ONE YEAR!" Hephaestus shouted,then set both of them down and disappeared.

"What just happened?" I asked Jaxx.

"They were demoted by a year. In other words, before they can go out into the battlefront, they'll have to do an extra year at the academy, and they lose the priveleges they gained this year by advancing."

"That sucks."

"Yeah. Especially since they've both been demotedfive times since they started at the Academy."

"Wow. You'd think thay'd have learned after the first time."

"You'd think."

Jaxx and I joined a group of kids who were having a play-battle (training together in a large group, as though they were actually in battle.)

I grabbed another wooden shield and sword and joined the Hperion side along with Jaxx, wielding another buckler and wooden lance.

Immediately, an Astatite rushed at me, swinging his wooden axe hilike a madman. I blocked his attack with my shield and struck out with my foot, kicking him in the gut. He doubled over, gasping for air as I touched his neck with the blade of my sword.

"Dead." Jaxx said, smiling. At once, both sides charged, and the Astatite just laid on the ground, as if he actually were dead.

I was engaged by an Astatite who was wearing a long cloak. It completely covered his face,so I couldn't see what he looked like. He was wielding some kind of staff. I slashed upwards with my sword, but he blocked the attack with his staff, then struck out at me with the other end of it.

I was barely able to block the attack with my shield, but he simply followed through with a roundhouse kick to my ribs.

I flew backwards and landed on the ground, hard. Jaxx appeared behind me and engaged the Astatite. He thrust his lance forward as his opponent attacked simultaneously, but he blocked the attack with his buckler, avoiding the kick that followed quickly. The Astatite bent backwards so his hood dragged the ground, and the lance passed harmlessly over his head.

Jaxx spun around to his right, bringing his buckler around to smash the edge into the other fighter's ribs, but he merely kicked up, knocking the buckler out of Jaxx's hand and sailing across the training yard. Jaxx quickly responded with his lance, smashing the shaft into the other person's face. A high-pitched grunt escaped the Astatite's mouth, distracting Jaxx long enough for his opponent to crack him behind the head with the staff.

By this time, I was up again, and I attacked. I launched into a series of attacks, letting my instincts take over. But the Astatite blocked every one of my attacks effortlessly, and even got in a few light punches and kicks that didn't really hurt, but they were wearing me down quickly. Finally, my opponent side-stepped one of my attacks, knocking me off-balance, then ended up behind me and tripped me with the staff. I felt the tip of the staff just under my chin, and I knew I was beat.

"Dead, dead." I heard an unmistakeably female voice say from under the hood, and she flipped it back, exposing her long, blonde hair and shining blue eyes to the little sunlight that streamed in through the clouds.

I heard another of the Hyperiites speak next. "Well, you may have taken out two of us, but you've still got to deal with three more, and you're all alone now." I looked around and saw the other four Astatites lying on the ground, "dead".

I watched the remainder of the battle, surprised to see the girl take out all three of the other Hyperiites in rapid succession.

"Dead, dead, dead." She said, and stuck her staff into the ground. Everyone got up off the ground and sighed. The Astatites, including the girl, removed their red robes signifying them as servants of Astaroth, revealing the blue robes I myself wore as a servant of Hyperion.

I looked at Jaxx, who smiled at me. "You don't really think they'd let Astatites and Hyperiites fight in training, would they? We'd be trying to kill each other for real. So, in a five-on-five battle between the Hyperiites, five Hyperiites have to dress up as Astatites for the duration of the match, and vice versa if it's nothing but Astatites."

"I see."

"Yeah. I can't believe you two got beat up by a girl." One of the people on our team said.

"You did too. By the same girl, I might add." Jaxx retorted, and the other boy fell silent.

"Hey, that was really something." I said to the girl.

"Yeah. I can't believe how much I had to hold back against the five of you." She said, never looking at me. She simply walked away.

"Who is she? And why does she have such an attitude?" I asked Jaxx.

"That's Tenn. She doesn't have an attitude, there's just something different about her brain that makes her say everything that comes to mind, whether it's offensive or not. She doesn't do it on purpose, it's just the way her mind works."

"Huh. She's good."

"Yeah. Big Bro taught her everything she knows."

"She has a brother?"

"Two, actually. One older, one twin. Not identical, mind you, in fact, they couldn't look more different. But yeah, she has two brothers. One of them is a legendary Dragon Rider, a Dragon Lord. He also happens to be her mentor." I detected a hint of bitterness in Jaxx's voice.

"I take it you wanted him to be your mentor?"

"Yeah. I was here first, and you'd think he'd train _both_ of his siblings. But _no_, he had his hands full with training her."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. Tenn's twin brother? His name is Jaxx. It's me."

"Didn't see that coming."

"Most people are surprised when they find out we're related."

Jaxx and I hung out for the rest of the day, joining in on a few play-battles, but for the most part, we just flew dragons around, trying to get me used to it, which was harder than I thought it would be.

At the end of the day, we ate supper, and Jaxx came to my room to hang out with me. After a whle of playing board games, mainly Dragon Chess, Jaxx decided to sleep in a chair in the corner as I went to bed.

I dreamt of the dragon again that night. And then I realized that I hadn't taken the time to look at either of the other two books.

**Well, here's chapter 4. Still don't have any reviews, people.**


	5. Chapter 5

Dragons & Titans

The Rider

Chapter 5

I got up the next morning and immediately began looking at one of the two remaining books, hoping that I'd finally find the dragon from my dreams.

Dyrebon, the title read. I flipped through the pages, not bothering to translate any of the words. I found a picture of an entire nest of Direbones, and saw them in each of their forms. The golden form was cool, but it still wasn't the same dragon I'd been looking for. Finally, I got to the last book.

I didn't bother looking at the title. I figured this had to be the one.

I flipped through the pages the same as I had with the other books, until I came to a picture. It had the image of a blue dragon flying straight up, roaring at a big ball of blue light. It looked exactly like the dragon in my dreams. I kept looking, hoping to see the gold form of it, but I never found it.

_Well, maybe it hasn't been seen by anyone before._ I thought, and took the book with me. I brought it down to the training field and showed it to Jaxx.

"This is it. This is the dragon in my dreams. The only difference is that it's blue instead of gold. In my dreams, it was golden."

"Huh. Well, show me."

"I can't it. It doesn't have a picture of the golden form."

"That's odd. Well, maybe no one's seen it long enough to draw it."

"There's another thing. The title of this book. It's faded too much. I can't read it, and I can't find the name of this dragon anywhere in the book. It's like no one knows what it's called."

"I do. It's actually part of a legend from my hometown. I come from the City of Night."

"Can I hear the legend?"

"Sure. It's actually the story of the first battle between Hyperion and Astaroth, and the creation of the first dragons. It's said that thousands of years ago, there was nothing but the Titans and this ball of light. It was humongous, easily the size of three planes of existence. Then, the Titans combined their magics. Hephaestus, the Forge Titan, took a piece of the light, and slammed on it with his hammers for four years straight, with no breaks. With his piece of the light, he created the first two planes. He created one for the Titans, and the other to hold the light and keep it safe.

"Astra, the Titan of Order, created mortals to guard and protect the light. And, for three thousand years, everything went as planned, and the mortals did their jobs. But then, the Titan of Darkness, Astaroth, decided to overthrow the other Titans and take the power of the light for himself. Jengu, the Titan of Fortune, used her magics to give birth to another Titan from two of Astaroth's arms. Back then, he had six, but now he only has four. She fused Astaroth's arms with a large bit of the light, and created Hyperion, the Titan of Light.

"Hyperion fought Astaroth, but they were too evenly matched. They both had to rest. They landed in the plane of mortals. They fought again and again, and destroyed everything in their path, even breaking the single universe into thousands of smaller planes. The other Titans saw the destruction, and feared for their safety. They exiled Astaroth and Hyperion to the mortal planes to fight it out for all eternity, scattering their essences across many of the planes so they couldn't destroy the planes anymore." By now, many people were gathering around to listen to Jaxx tell the story.

"However, both Hyperion and Astaroth wanted to go back to the Titan plane, and they knew that the only way they could do that was by defeating the other in all planes. Astaroth made the first move and created a weapon that he knew would defeat Hyperion. He took a piece of the light, which, in their haste, the Titans had accidentally locked away in the mortal planes, and with it, he created a mighty beast, the first dragon. Astaroth rode the dragon into battle with Hyperion, and nearly killed him.

"But the other Titans knew that if Astaroth won, he would take revenge on them by coming back to the Titan plane and killing them all. So, they decided to help Hyperion. They took half of the remaining light, and gave it to Hyperion. The next time he saw the dragon, he clipped off two of its four wings, the same way Jengu had cut off two of Astaroth's arms, and created a dragon for himself. Whereas Astaroth's dragon was a creature of darkness, created by polluting the light with his own dark energy, Hyperion's dragon was pure, and untainted. It was one of light.

"But, just as Hyperion and Astaroth were evenly matched, so too were their dragons. They were back to square one. Sensing more destruction coming, the Titans interfered one last time. They imprisoned Astaroth and Hyperion in Titan cages, and trained the mortals to ride dragons. By then, there were already many species of dragons, and the original two had disappeared without a trace. The mortals would fight each other on dragonback to decide which Titan would rule that plane for the next millenium. If either Titan could defeat the other on every plane of existence within a thousand years, they would be welcomed back to the Titan plane. The light was placed in the sky of each mortal plane as a reminder of what had transpired. The light became known as the Dawnstar, and the dragons that had been created by Hyperion and Astaroth became known as the Dawnstar brood."

"So, the dragon in my dreams is a Dawnstar?"

"Yup. That dragon is a very poor drawing, but it's more accurate than anything I've seen. I'm not sure if that's an Astaroth's Dawnstar, or a Hyperion's Dawnstar. And that thing the dragon is roaring at, that's the Dawnstar."

The crowd dispersed once the story was over, and Jaxx and I went up to the dragonhold and rode out on Lillith and Jadyn. We flew around for a while, and he made the comment that I was improving already. From the air, I saw Curst enter this plane from a portal in the sky, along with two other Dragon Lords. They were both Hyperiites.

They looked sad, though.

"Sir Curst, what happened?" I asked him as I flew up to him.

"There was a war on another plane. I was called to the front lines. We won, but you see here the only survivors."

"Three? Three survivors?"

"Not counting the residents of that plane."

"Damn."

"I'd love to stay and chat, Lëö, but I must go file my report. I'll resume your training tomorrow."

I was about to protest, but thought better of it. "Yes sir." Jaxx and I continued to fly around for the rest of the day, clear up until supper time, five hours later.

But before we could get to the mess hall, I heard an explosion. I ran to a window and saw several Dragon Lords fighting high up in the sky. Thousands of little red demons that resembled the statue of Astaroth were attacking the Academy, and Averyn.

"All students to the dragons!" I heard a booming voice say, and a Titan I'd never seen before appeared out of nowhere. "The Dragon Lords need assistance!" We all obeyed the Titan and ran to the Dragonhold. I mounted Lillith, and saw Jaxx mount Jadyn as we jumped out of the window and soared into the sky. I had a real sword and shield, Jaxx was carrying a long spear with him.

I saw Tenn riding a Midnight Hellfire, wielding her staff, and I got a good look at it for the first time. It had a simple rod, about five feet long, and it was capped with a smooth spherical stone, probably to be used as a club. But when she punched it forward, jabbing the stone at the little demons, two blue skulls appeared, and tracked down one of the demons. They attacked it, and the demon exploded, dying instantly. I had to stop watching Tenn, however.

I blocked a demonic fireball with my shield and brought my sword down, cleaving a demon in half while Lillith incinerated another. I saw Jaxx run his lance through a demon out of the corner of my eye, and I rolled Lillith over completely to avoid another fireball. I righted us again and squeezed Lillith with my ankles. She fired a blue fireball from her mouth, and it burned a demon to a crisp on impact. I blocked another fireball with my shield and swung my sword at the demon's head, cutting it off.

I leaned forward and put on a burst of speed, and Lillith grabbed a demon and tore it in half. She bit down on another one, and I squeezed her with my knees. Red flames burst from between her jaws and turned the demon between her teeth to ashes, and the flames continued, burning another two demons as well.

Both Hyperiites and Astatites were fighting the demons. I began to wonder why the Astatites were fighting their own servants, but I berated myself for being stupid. They obviously had to protect this safe haven as much as we did.

But thenI just happened to look down, and I saw that the fireballs the demons were throwing were doing no damage at all to the Academy or the grounds. Instead, they exploded before they could hit, creating a blue ripple on some kind of shield. I made Lillith dive, aiming her at the ground, and squeezed with my ankles, causing her to fire a blue fireball again. As I expected,the fireball exploded before it hit the groud, causing a blue ripple.

_It's a test!_ I realized, and I flew up to rejoin the battle. I avoided a fireball, and had Lillith return one of her own, destroying another demon.

The battle continued for hours, until finally, some creatures that resembled Hyperion flew into the air and fought the rest of the demons off.

A voice rang out through the air, booming.

"Congradulations to all students!" A Titan appeared, decked out in full battle-armor. His helmet had horns on it, and shadowed his eyes so they were simply glowing red dots. "Each and every one of you have passed the test set before you. Normally, only fifth years are allowed to take the test, but as you are aware, something has gone wrong. The Covenant has been breached."

Everyone gasped in astonishment at the news.

"It was not Astaroth or Hyperion, who are incapable of breaching the Covenant, but another Titan. Cronus, the Temporal Titan has interfered with the war. He has attempted to aid Hyperion in his campaign. As you are aware, any breach of the Covenant will result in the steady collapse of the system. The Titan cages on every plane of existence are starting to crumble, releasing Hyperion and Astaroth from their prisons. Soon, the time restraints preventing either Titan from attacking a plane already controlled by the other until a millenium has passed will fade, and all-out war will occur. The Titans' essences are gathering, coalescing into their true forms once more. If this happens, they will destroy the universe. As such, we are in need of more soldiers. The Astatites and Hyperiites are divided now more than ever. Both sides are trying to seize this opportunity to destroy the other once and for all, but this can not happen. Now, we must do something never attempted before. Astaroth and Hyperion must work together to defeat Cronus and restore balance to the Covenant, lest existence itself be destroyed."

Everyone was shouting and arguing, no one being in the mood to team up with those who had been their enemies for countless millenia.

"SILENCE!" The Titan shouted.

"Who is that?" I asked Curst.

"Mars, the War Titan. He and Astra are in charge of keeping the Covenant in balance. Neither of them take sides, they're completely neutral. He keeps the order on the battlefield, and she keeps the order in Peace Zones, the planes that have been claimed, and any and all neutral planes."

Mars spoke again. "Peace MUST be made between Astaroth and Hyperion, or both sides will lose the war, and all neutral parties will die! Your friends and families back home will be destroyed, your homes will burn, existence will cease to exist! There will be no honor to be had, no glory to be won, and no allegiances to be sworn! No one will die in victory, no one will die for a cause, but you will die! You will not be buried, you'll simply fade with the collapsing planes! Only the Titans will remain, but there will be no light left to create with! And Hyperion and Astaroth will continue to fight until all other Titans are forced to take sides, but they, too, will die, for Hyperion and Astaroth are too powerful for us lower Titans to fight!

"They will fight without end until they either kill each other or simply fade, like you mortals! This fight is pointless, in any case! The only purpose it serves is to make sure something like this does NOT happen! No one who dies in this war will be honored by any Titans. Even to your Titan lords, Hyperion and Astaroth, you're merely bodies to fling at each other! You will die, and only the humans will honor you! If you're lucky, you'll get your name mentioned once in a book or two, but that will be the only record you ever lived! You think you're making a difference in the war? This is foolish ideology! Wishful thinking!

"Not one of you is making a difference with this fighting! Any planes you help capture will be fought over again in a thousand years, and all your work will be for nothing! Both Titans have pulled ahead of each other in the past! Hyperion has had a lead of 2,000 planes before, yet the millenium on each of them ended before his boost of strength could be used to capture the other planes as well, and they were even once more! You Astatites think you're stronger because you have almost a 300 plane lead? Pathetic! The only way any of you will ever make a difference is if you restore the Covenant by working together!" Mars fell silent, and somewhere, a dragon snored as it fell asleep. The snore echoed through the Academy grounds in the silence.

"As of this moment, you are all graduates. You all passed the test, and you will all begin your service tomorrow."


End file.
